1000 Woodcuts: April 2020

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

New job! Stocking the store front...

Uncertainty and survival

"May you live in uninteresting times" Chinese proverb

Ah yes indeed, by now you know that my entire spring and summer festival season is cancelled. This translates to no meaningful income for the near future and possibly beyond Labor Day as I got notice that a September show had been cancelled. Guess no miles on the truck this year!

So what to do? I have dog food money but connecting with my audience is sorely missed. As I wrote on my newsletter 1000 Woodcuts Updates (what? you don't get that? more on that in a sec):

Several web projects are coming along as I make my website easier to navigate and bring back the vast information section for printmakers. Teaching myself WordPress and working on organizing content so it can be uploaded once I get everything set up. Exciting brain work! (not really but why not do that in slow times).

Subscribe to 1000 Woodcuts Updates

So, just a suggestion but in the spirit of reconnecting with friends and collectors, I resuscitated my email newsletter: 1000 Woodcuts Updates. I have about 700+ subscribers collected one at a time through art festivals, gallery shows and other online venues. I send it out once a month (ish) or whenever there is something earth shattering that I just have to tell you. So if you want to, just send an email to: updates at 1000woodcuts.com with "subscribe" or "add me" in the subject line or body. Presto! Or click here: Subscribe to 1000 Woodcuts Updates

Stocking

Finally, my online "festival" is looking great! I am in the process of uploading framed works and finished carved blocks to my web shop and that super-boring task is almost done.
I also uploaded some out of print works and larger works as reproductions so people can pick their size and get some fine quality prints of works no longer available. More to come!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/1000woodcuts

Stay in touch!

1000woodcuts Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/1000woodcuts
Maria's Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/maria.arango.diener
Maria's Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/1000woodcuts
1000woodcuts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts/videos

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Beautiful cherrywood blocks

Why cherry?

Often I get asked why I insist on using cherry wood. My answer is usually that it is the traditional Japanese wood for producing woodblocks for centuries. But the "real" answer is, I like it!

Not the easiest wood to carve, most wood carvers invariably point out that basswood is softer and easier to work with. If I wanted "easy" I would have gone into selling women's shoes! No, cherry is the wood for me. Amazing grain, amazing variety, every piece in my stash already has a beautiful image in mind, just waiting for me to find it and carve it.

Cherry is hard, but the grain is tight and allows infinite detail. Tools have to be sharp for sure and wrists and hands will hurt. But it will yield 200, 300 prints if I wanted to, registers beautifully without expanding or contracting and makes beautiful prints.

Finishing the blocks

The greatest gift is after the print run is done. A cherry block begs to be carved again into a relief carving, which is precisely what I have been doing with my original blocks. Lately, I carve deeper in relief and stain to match the print that the block worked so hard to produce.

Once carved, I gather the original print if it was a color print and set by the block. Then I use standard stains and some non-standard stain and raw pigment mixes to approximate the color. I apply with brushes and keep rags handy to lighten some areas. Letting the stain into the recesses produces a darker finish, while wiping quickly after applying makes nice highlights and variations in color.

Soon after all the color stains are applied, I give it a coat of satin polyurethane finish. In some cases I have been using flat polyurethane finish (In the Shallows, below) which allows for the wood to be protected without too much shine. The poly layer also blends the not quite dry stains so that the whole image has the feel of a painting.

Latest

My block collection grows! Here are the latest, some stained some au naturel. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. For a peeksy at all my available original blocks, go here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/1000woodcuts?section_id=17653011

Angry Skies, still drying!

Angry Skies detail

In the Shallows, relief carving

Moonshadow

Hija del Sol

Hija del Sol detail

Stay in touch!

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Another big block gets cut!

Deliveries across the pond

First, I am hearing that our friends in far away places are now receiving their blocks. With the current state of the world, that is really awesome news so I am very happy. More printmakers around the wide world getting busy and thinking about kindness. Truly amazing!

One more block gets cut

Two down, one to go. Keep up with all the daily progress here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/puzzlewoodcutprints/

I finished the first block last week and now done with the second, or should I say: "Fly and Now are ready to print!"

A little repair job

Today I started on the third block and it was one of those days when I just couldn't be careful enough. So! I take this opportunity to show my method for repairing this particular cherry plywood when the knife takes a slide.
Look for wood fillers that can be "sanded and drilled" after they cure.

One of the areas that needed fixin'
Fortunately, God invented wood filler

This plastic "Wood Dough" is great for
repairs, dries hard and quick

Also needed, a flat or bullnose chisel and
sandpaper

First I carefully "shave" the excess filler
from the offended area

After sanding, I use my magic
marker to re-draw the design. This step
also will show if the cut needs re-filling

Ready to re-cut...CAREFUL! Maria...

Ah, there it is, good as new, never even
know an accident happened

Three types of wood filler that will hold up
to the printing job.
Plastic Wood, Wood Dough and my all
time favorite KwikWood.
The first two can be used right out of the
container. The third needs to be mixed and
kneaded before use but dries and bonds the
hardest of all.